Some Screenshots From My Assassin Game

[Dundee Slaytern]

I guess the game really has turned old, if practically no one( besides SixOfSpades) has bothered to guess how to defeat the Sahuagin Priestess( or more accurately, how to defeat the Cloak of Mirroring). [img]tongue.gif[/img]

The BG2 Spell Reference website is inaccurate in its' description of the Cloak of Mirroring. It does block most Area-of-Effect(AoE) spells, including, but not exclusively, Fireball, Prismatic Spray, Sphere of Chaos, Cone of Cold, etc... even if you do not target the person wearing the Cloak of Mirroring.

Yes, I actually went through the trouble of experimenting with nearly ALL the AoE spells.

In reality, very few AoE attacks can byass the Cloak of Mirroring. It is just that most of these AoE attacks are rarely used( and for good reason), so the impression one can get is that a lot of AoE attacks can bypass the Cloak of Mirroring, which is totally not true at all.

Additionally... there are SOME single-target attacks that CAN bypass the Cloak of Mirroring( the Cloak of Mirroring is basically a nerfed version of Spell Deflection, albeit one that is permanent and undispellable...). If you keep this in mind while abusing the Mislead cheese, you can easily defeat the Sahuagin Priestess, since she cannot see you while you are under the effects of Mislead.

The triggering of the Minor Avatar of Sekolah is dependent on her seeing you( summons included). If she does not see you, the Minor Avatar of Sekolah does not spawn.

Whew... this entry turned out to be longer than I expected...

Anyway, this was how I defeat the Sahuagin Priestess.


I basically incinerated her with multiple shots from the Necklace of Missiles and Oils of Fiery Burning. I had ran out of Potions of Explosions already, so I could not determine whether those can bypass the Cloak of Mirroring as well.

The lesson learnt here? Potions and other 'forgotten' items can be very useful.

[Dundee Slaytern]

More backstabbing screenies.

Kuo-Tou Warrior:
What is so special about backstabbing a Kuo-Tou? You try backstabbing something that can see through invisibility and has a tendency to always face the protagonist. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Mind Flayer:
See above.

Ust Natha Gate Drow
Ever get annoyed by that hostile Drow that runs away from you?

~~~~ ~~~~

Woohoo! I managed to complete Chapter 06 with only one rest! After clearing the elemental gates, releasing the imprisoned people, and defeating the Baalor, I rested once in the town.

I then rampaged through the Kuo-Toa's tunnels, the Beholder's lair, the Illithid's City, the imprisoned Mage, and the Ust Natha saga in that order. [img]smile.gif[/img] It feels so good to not abuse rest. Made me more creative over what tactics to use too( the most nightmarish one was the Beholder's lair).

Summaries on key events in the following sections,

~~~~ ~~~~

Ah... the Improved Demon Knights. Just what is it with the obsession in almost every other damned mod that decided to implement the method of making the game harder by having the enemies Dimension Door to CHARNAME?

It is starting to get predictable... and annoying.

My first attempt was a total unmitigated disaster. Rena is an Assassin, not a frontline tanker. So when the five( count them, five) Demon Knights teleported around her, they formed a closed circle around her( making escape impossible). They can see through invisibility, so... reload.

Screw this. It's trapping time. Since they WILL teleport to Rena, I decided that THEY shall play on MY terms.

As some, if not most, people will know. Skeleton Warriors are one of the best summons to use against the Demon Knights. They have high damage resistance, and are practically immuned to magic and mental attacks. Kelsey was already level 15 by this point, so I summoned two of them and arranged them around Rena and her traps. Used the Wand of Monster Summoning to get a sacrificial summon and got three Hobgoblins.

I also equipped Rena with the Boots of Haste. Once the preparations were done, I positioned the rest of the party away from the spawn zone and sent one Hobgoblin to the Demogorgan altar.

As the Demon Knights appeared one by one, I quickly summoned another Skeleton Warrior and made Rena scoot out of the danger zone.

The traps kicked in, and killed one Demon Knight.

Blocked by the summons and Jaheira, the Demon Knight began their mass spamming of spells. The Skeleton Warriors ignored them of course, but Jaheira got nailed by a Symbol:Fear spell. The Demon Knights tried to Power Word:Stun Jaheira, but she was equipped with the Ring of Free Action... so... no dice, compadre.

While the Demon Knights were casting their spells, the Skeleton Warriors were merrily chopping away at the Demon Knights. They were still trying to Power Word:Stun Jaheira, and as a result, a second Demon Knight fell. I only wish I had Haste at this point, so that I could haste the Skeleton Warriors. [img]smile.gif[/img]

Finally, the Demon Knights got a clue and started fighting back against the Skeleton Warriors. Using a scroll of Resist Fear, Jaheira was back in the action. The Demon Knights managed to kill one Skeleton Warrior, but they lost two of their own. Have I mentioned that Skeleton Warriors have good damage resistances? I also wish to state that I was surprised that the Hobgoblins managed to live so long in this fight, long enough that they unsummoned.

The final Demon Knight falls. Party losses, one Skeleton Warrior. Booyah!

~~~~ ~~~~

This is why I love Flame Arrow. Believe it or not, this is just one casting of Flame Arrow. So what happens when you put three of them in a Spell Sequencer? You get this.

Despite what the dialogue box says, Beholders cannot be stunned.

~~~~ ~~~~

The Beholder's Lair was a nightmare. Once again... there were scripted enemies that were Hellbent of smooching the CHARNAME's ass, even if said CHARNAME is NOWHERE in the vicinity. "Hmm... this Half-Elf is smacking me around. I shall ignore her and seek out, for no reason, some Human female half-way across the world."

Sigh...

It is scripts like these that make me feel no remorse in abusing the Shield of Balduran. Had Rena been a Sorcerer or a Berserker or something tougher, I would not have mind; but she is an ASSASSIN for crying out loud. What on earth does one expect an Assassin to do against two Death Tyrants and a Hive Mother that can cast Imprisonment?!?! THREE freaking Beholders that will ignore everything else and focus-zap on poor, poor Rena. Not to mention the Fingers of Deaths( yes, yes, I know. Death Wards and Cloak of Mirroring)... and the Hive Mother's INFINITE Chain Contingencies of Stoneskin and Improved Mantle. DID I MENTION THAT THEY ARE INFINITE? Adun have mercy on my soul!

It took me more than a dozen attempts before I figured out a way to beat these bloated gas-bags. Kelsey and Imoen were safely tucked away at the entrance cavern( they would have no part in this 'glorious' battle). Minsc and Rena( the bait...) were nestled in the North-Eastern cavern. Jaheira( the tank) was going to be the goalkeeper.

The tunnel leading to the cavern where Rena is, is narrow. After taunting the Beholders from the South-Eastern caverns, Jaheira quickly rushed up to defend the fort. Using the Beholders as a defensive wall, I used Jaheira to sling the two Death Tyrants to death( slinging while Beholders and Gaunts are biting on you is painful... thank goodness for the Periapt of Poison and Potions of Extra Healing). Once the Death Tyrants were down, I used Jaheira to get rid of the Beholders one by one.

This part was tricky. I had to kill off as many Beholders as possible without getting into Imprisonment range of the Hive Mother. Once only the Hive Mother was left, I lured her towards a waiting Rena and Minsc. Once Rena was sighted, the Hive Mother began to target her and ignore Jaheira. I summoned a Berserker Warrior so that the Hive Mother could not pass through the tunnerl. With the Hive Mother's total concentration on Rena, it did not even bother to Death Spell the Berserker Warrior; and so Jaheira, Minsc and the Berserker Warrior had free reign to whack frantically on the Hive Mother.

Rena was equipped with the Cloak of Mirroring and I used her Poison Weapon ability along with Bolts of Biting. Minsc was firing Arrows of Biting, and Jaheira was swinging Blackblood. The... crucial part was to wait at the precise moment that the Improved Mantle expired, enabling Minsc to fire off an Arrow of Dispelling to remove the Stoneskin. Once successfully, everybody spent the next nano-second squeezing in as many hits as possible before the next Chain Contingency triggered. After much, much, near-fruitless swingings later, the damnable Hive Mother finally fell.

~~~~ ~~~~

After the nightmare that was the Beholder's lair, I had strong thoughts of resting the party before entering the Illithid City. However, at that point, Kelsey and Imoen still had more than half their spells, so I figured that it would have been a waste to not use them first. Just for safety though, I saved the game before entering the Illithid City.

The Improved Illithids turned out to be easier than I thought. Maybe it was because the memories of the Beholders were still fresh in my mind, but in any case, killing the Illithids turned out to be child's play. Jaheira was the champion here. With her rock-deep AC and the Greenstone Amulet, she was an excellent tank against the Illithids. It helped also that Kelsey has Mordenkainen's Sword by this time( three of them).

The tactic was simple. Use Jaheira to lure out the Illithids one by one to the awaiting firing squad of the party. Using this divide and conquer strategy, I made short work of the Illithids, and the Master Brain was easily brought down with sling and bullets.

My favourite part of this arc? The infinite XP room. [img]graemlins/evillaughter2.gif[/img]

As you may know, you can dire charm a Mind Flayer( using the Mind-Control Circlets) and use it to open the two doors in the city that requires 'Strongs minds or Godly Strength'. Due to this, there is a special room that continously spawns Mind Flayers for your convenience. They spawn... forever, at a rate of once per turn.

Cue the mass slaughter of Mind Flayers. [img]tongue.gif[/img] I stopped after I used up about 30 charges from the Greenstone Amulet. That is about 270,000xp. Not bad, not bad, not bad at all. I read Reader Digest to pass the time.

~~~~ ~~~~

Ust Natha... first order of business. Pickpocketing.

Kelsey 'dear', you do realise we rarely BUY our stuff do you? I'm a Thief for crying out loud.


~~~~ ~~~~

None. Of. Them. Shall. Know. What. Killed. Them.

~~~~ ~~~~

Cheers. More screenshots of Ust Natha coming soon. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 06-05-2006, 05:15 AM: Message edited by: Dundee Slaytern ]

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

I don't know which is more impressive... Backstabbing something that can always, always see you, or backstabbing something that can read your every thought. At any rate, I think Flame Arrow is severely underrated, and it's good to know someone else is using it as much as I am.

[thetruth]

Good job Dundee and nice to know these useful info for the backstab.

Hmm...in my experience, none of Weimer's scripts are limited by distance. I think if you had summoned those Worgs via a spell rather than a Wand, those Liches would have Teleported your party from halfway across the world. Then again, perhaps their script only kicks in after the Lich has seen a party member. Dunno.

In my experience the Lich casts Teleport Field in the beginning of the battle ONLY if the party is protected from Undead (scrolls).If not then the Lich may not cast it at all.Also in some cases (Shade Lich) the lich will cast T.Field if you try to run away.

Death Fog is hardly an underappreciated spell, and Liches are immuned to Acid anyway( what with all their Non-Breachable Combat Protections...)

Actually Liches don't have innate resistance to Acid.Usually they cast Prot.from Acid in the beginning of the battle.And although Breach is not effective against them you can always use the Arrows of Dispelling

They ignore SI: Abjuration and will dispel any protection of the lich (except from Spell Trap,S.Turning,S.Immunity).They get blocked only from PfMW and Mantles.After an arrow of Dispelling the Lich is vulnerable to area effect spells like ADHW,Death Fog etc.

A problem occurs however. The Priestess dons the Cloak of Mirroring. Rendering direct area-damage spells useless, and she ForceCasts Zone of Sweet Air anytime you try to nail her with Cloudkill. So how? How can we defeat her without invoking the cheese of Sekolah? What cheese can we use to counter her cheese? Hmm... A hint. Think about what the Cloak of Mirroring does not protect against.

Two spells that ignore both the Cloak of Cheese and the Zone of Sweer Air at the same time are Firestorm and the ADHWs.
Also IIRC Incendiary Cloud is another very powerful spell which ignores the Cloak of Cheese only.

[timothy trotter]

i use flame arrow! its one of my fav spells

[Dundee Slaytern]

Originally posted by thetruth: Actually Liches don't have innate resistance to Acid.Usually they cast Prot.from Acid in the beginning of the battle.And although Breach is not effective against them you can always use the Arrows of Dispelling They ignore SI: Abjuration and will dispel any protection of the lich (except from Spell Trap,S.Turning,S.Immunity).They get blocked only from PfMW and Mantles.After an arrow of Dispelling the Lich is vulnerable to area effect spells like ADHW,Death Fog etc.[/QB]

Therein lies the problem...

Which respectable Lich does not cast PfMW and/or Mantles? Until I get the Wand of Spell Striking( it can Breach Liches), I ain't going to bother using elemental damage against a Lich. It is just too... troublesome. Summon fodder is just so much more effective than trying to strip a Lich of its' protections.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Ust Natha!

The only way I could screw myself up in this area is to challenge the Lesser Demon Lord. From prior experience and given the setup of my party this time, I was leery of fighting it.

So I chose not to. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

The rest was a piece of cake.

The arena was simply beautiful for Rena. Between her Potions of Invisibility and x7 Backstab Modifier, the physical fights were over in exactly three hits. First up was Lasonar, and one backstab later, he yielded. His keeper, Chalinthra, fared no better. Within two backstabs, she spilled all over the place.

~~~~ ~~~~

I think I am beginning to get addicted to Potions of Invisibility... If the enemy is unable to see invisible units, Rena is nigh invincible, so long as she either has Potions of Invisibility, or scrolls of Mislead.

I am very, very tempted to experiment with Simulacrums and Mislead. Imagine two Assassins stabbing you IN THE FACE with Assassination at the same time. Surviving one x7 backstab is possible. Surviving two is a miracle.

This is the house of Jaellat,





~~~~ ~~~~

Take the gems for Jarlaxe? Whatever for? Let me just put in the warding rope and let the souls of his men rot forever more. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

~~~~ ~~~~

Yes Imoen... give in to the Dark Side...


~~~~ ~~~~

And with that, Chapter 05 is done.

More screenshots on the way.

[Dundee Slaytern]

Once out of the Underdark, I had two immediate priorities.

Dump Solaufein at the NPC inn, and get my long overdued Stronghold. In the process of getting my Stronghold however, I would need to recruit Edwin and do his Nether Scroll quest.

Since this is Chapter 06, it immediately posed a problem. I would need to face off Bodhi's ambush in the Graveyard District, AND fight though her base in order to get Edwin's Nether Scroll. Eych.

One weak point of Vampires. They cannot see invisible units. Cue a simultaneous consumption of Potions of Invisibility as the whole party vanishes before their very eyes.

Since I was trying out the Items Upgrades mod for the first time, I had on hand, the Improved Daystar and Quintus. Daystar in the main-hand, Quintus in the off-hand.

One... Two... Three... FOUR.

Cookie if you get the reference.

~~~~ ~~~~

The lair itself was not that hard. With the aid of Drizzt and Arkanis, the vampires were more or less swept away from our path. I did not go down though, since I wanted to finish up the rest of the quests with Imoen first. Not to mention Nalia's, Mazzy's and Cernd's subquests.

Nether Scroll in hand, I travelled back and forth between the Druid Grove and Athkhala to transform Edwin into Edwina. Transformation done, I dumped her in the NPC inn.

Farewell, Solaufein.
Farewell, Edwina.

~~~~ ~~~~

Up next. De'Arnise Keep and the predictablity( aka failure) of 'Improved' Mods( aka a Stoneskinless, Mirror Imageless, and more or less totally & utterly defenseless Imoen can still right stand next to a Red Dragon casting spells on it without getting hurt or targetted).

Cheers.

[Kyrvias]

One...Two...Three...FOUR [i]Cookie if you get the reference

Oooh! ooh! Pick me! It's the Slayer dream!

Either way, I have to try some of these mods out.

[ZFR]

Originally posted by Dundee Slaytern: Farewell, Edwina.

Is it part of a mod that Edwin has different portrait in female form? In my non-mod game it remained same...